The Brew BOX

[TheBrewBOX]

So my friend with BannersHomeBrewry was doing a lot of the postings so I didn't have to but a unfortunate turn of events he had to transfer to Minneapolis. Im going to give writing on the Forums a shot. The website is a work in progress (thebrewbox.us) but I am trying to include some good information on how we built Banners Brewery and The Brew Box Brewery. By trade I am a performance, controls and design engineer for a company that makes big yellow tractors. Brewing has been a hobby of mine for the past 10 years or so. I started doing all grain brewing about 3 years ago with a cooler and a stove. Frustrated with inconsistent results I turned to making my own controller. Some of the key features are the level/temp sensors, these things are great since you don't have to drill any holes in your kettles. It also has speed control for the pumps, no more ball valves on the outlet of the pumps. Another thing (not controller related) is the plumbing. During the brew there is no disconnecting or re routing tubing, it is all built into the bench. From Banners Brewery you can see it makes for a really clean look. I just moved so I am finishing up the basement and will add pics. I am itching to brew bad, it has almost been a year. The only good thing about moving is that my sour has had 9 months to ferment.

 

[ccfoo242]

Very nice! I like the clear front panel.

 

[Pappers_]

Really nice!

 

[BrunDog]

How are the pumps speed controlled?

 

[RocketBrewer]

Looks Great! Get brewing!

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

Nice Build!

 

[TheBrewBOX]

Thanks everyone I just got the plumbing done last night so I am hoping to brew this week. Unlike most electric brewery's the brew box is ran off a arduino controller, this gives me a lot more flexibility to put in safety logic, speed control, customized PID's, and automate a lot of the processes. The down side is that I have spent countless hours writing and testing software. The first step to controlling the speed of the pumps is to read in the frequency of the AC current, I do this using a optocoupler. The next step is to write the code that takes that frequency and chops up the sign wave to control the speed of the pump. I just use a percentage, so if the pumps are running at 75% only 75% of the sign wave is on. This all gets fed into low amperage crydom AC SSR's. It uses the same theory as a dimmer switch for a light (which also works to control the pumps) except I just control it digitally. Hope this helps and thanks for all the great feedback!

 

[BrunDog]

Thanks everyone I just got the plumbing done last night so I am hoping to brew this week. Unlike most electric brewery's the brew box is ran off a arduino controller, this gives me a lot more flexibility to put in safety logic, speed control, customized PID's, and automate a lot of the processes. The down side is that I have spent countless hours writing and testing software. The first step to controlling the speed of the pumps is to read in the frequency of the AC current, I do this using a optocoupler. The next step is to write the code that takes that frequency and chops up the sign wave to control the speed of the pump. I just use a percentage, so if the pumps are running at 75% only 75% of the sign wave is on. This all gets fed into low amperage crydom AC SSR's. It uses the same theory as a dimmer switch for a light (which also works to control the pumps) except I just control it digitally. Hope this helps and thanks for all the great feedback!

Thanks. There are many here who are using Arduino is some fashion - it does make for a good controller though it requires programming specific to the install as you know.

Would you mind posting more specifics on how you "read the freq and chops up the sign [sic] wave"? Are you limiting the amplitude of the wave? Do you know if this will or will not affect the longevity of the pump motor?

 

[orangehero]

Will you not cook your single phase AC pump motors that way? Also do you find that flow rate is proportional to pump speed?

 

[TheBrewBOX]

It has been awhile since I found then modified the code for the speed control but it does not change the amplitude of the sine wave. I have had my chugger pumps for about a year with The Brew Box and have not had any issue with over heating the pumps but I do know they have thermal protection built in from my experimental days . Since I included the optocoupler to read in the zero crossing of the sine wave I have been able to control the pumps easily. The percent to flow curve is not proportional to the % of the sine wave. It seems like I have control ability from 60% to 100%, below 60% there isn't enough energy to physically move the pump. I would like to do a flow test someday but just haven't yet.